What will the bride of christ look like

When the gospel brings forth the fullness of redemption to the Jews and Gentiles in Christ, the imagery in Ephesians of the one new man will be manifested.

In Matthew , apart from the promise that the gospel will reach all nations as a precursor to the time of the end, there has also been an emphasis on the gospel of the kingdom of God.

As we approach the last days, we witness a variety of dilutions and distortions of the gospel. The true gospel of the kingdom must proclaim the coming of Christ and His complete work of redemption over humanity and creation.

The coming of Christ includes both His first and second comings, which together depict both the betrothal and the consummation of a marriage covenant. In the Hebraic wedding customs during the time of Christ, typical weddings were divided into three ceremonial sections; the betrothal ketubah , the wedding chuppah , and the feast.

During the betrothal, the father of the bridegroom would present a bridal contract ketubah , which included the bridal gift mohar. Once both sides agreed on the ketubah, the bridal gift would be showered and the bridegroom would offer his covenant bride a cup of wine. If she drank the cup before everyone, she thereby expressed her will to marry him beyond her parental consent.

The bridegroom would usually leave a special gift mattan to help her remember their covenant. The mattan helped the bride remember and grow in love with the bridegroom day by day when they were apart. The bridegroom would spend at least nine months to one year to work on building a house for their future family. The bride would start preparing her bridal garments, usually made up of fine linen. She had to keep herself chaste and undistracted by other would-be lovers while her bridegroom was laboring to build a house for them, since he would come to receive her when he was ready.

When the bridegroom had finished all preparations, he would usually seek permission from his father to go and receive his bride. When the bride heard this trumpet and shout, she would get ready and dress in her bridal garment together with her virgin friends. They would prepare lamps to light the way, but a typical lamp had an oil compartment that only contained sufficient oil to light the lamp for a couple of hours.

Wise virgins would bring along larger containers with extra oil to last through the long, dark night. The bridegroom would usually come between sunset and sunrise.

He would come like a thief in the night to snatch away his bride, which was part of the fun and ritual. It mimicked a voluntary kidnapping of the bride since she was already betrothed to her husband and they were technically married. When the bridegroom saw her, he lifted her up and carried her back to the home he had built for them. In that home, under the chuppah , they would receive the wedding blessings and consummate their marriage covenant in their bedroom.

Often they would drink a cup of wine in their room together. The feast then began in the house of the bridegroom and would often last for seven days or longer.

While the family celebrated and feasted, the wedded couple would spend time in intimate communion with each other while occasionally entertaining guests. Jesus often spoke and taught using the wedding analogy when He described His coming and His departure.

The two comings of Jesus are clearly foreshadowed in this wedding analogy. While the witness of the gospel was glorious during the first few hundred years after the death and resurrection of Christ, I believe the witness of the gospel at the second coming of Christ will be far more glorious.

The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus has prayed for the Church to be one just as He and the Father are one. When we become one with one another and with the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit, the world will know the Father has sent the Son.

The unified witness of the Body of Christ will be the most glorious moment for the Church on the earth. It is a sign of the maturity of the Bride of Christ who has made herself ready for her Bridegroom.

In Ephesians 3, Paul prayed for the fullness of maturity in love to come to the saints in the context of corporate unity. In Proverbs chapter 9, we see the Bride and the Harlot clearly contrasted. In the first 12 verses of that chapter, the Bride invites all the foolish to turn from their foolish ways and to quit their sinful company verse 6 and to learn the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom verse In the last 6 verses of that chapter, we read of the call of the Harlot.

Many respond to the harlot's call and end up in spiritual death verse These seven pillars are listed for us in James , and the true church is built on these pillars. By these characteristics, we can identify the Bride of Christ anywhere:. Purity: The first and most important pillar in the true church is purity.

This is not a hollow pillar of a merely external purity. It is solid through and through. It is purity of the heart, and it grows from the seed of the fear of God deep within the heart. It is not by clever brains but by pure hearts that the true church of Christ is built. We cannot build the church if we don't have spiritual revelation on God and His ways - and only the pure in heart will be allowed to see God in their hearts Matthew Peaceableness: Righteousness and peace always go together.

They are twins. The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace Romans True wisdom is never argumentative or quarrelsome. It does not strive. It maintains harmonious relationships with everyone, as far as possible. It is impossible to quarrel with a man who is filled with Divine wisdom, for such a man is a peaceable man. He may be firm and he may be hated by compromisers.

But he is always peaceable. Jesus told His disciples that when they travel to preach the gospel, they should stay only in the house of "men of peace" Luke We must be men of peace, if we are to build God's house.

For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Until then, members of the church are encouraged to be faithful and be ready, waiting with anticipation for the glorious day in which they will be united with Jesus Christ and live in harmony with Him as His beloved bride Matthew ; Revelation As a former youth pastor, he has a heart for children and young adults and is passionate about engaging youth through writing and storytelling.

His blog, Perspectives Off the Page , discusses the creative and spiritual life through story and art. Share this. Joel Ryan Contributing Writer 16 Aug. Today on Christianity. About Christianity. All rights reserved.